News Flash: Analysts Just Made A Substantial Upgrade To Their Abraxas Petroleum Corporation (NASDAQ:AXAS) Forecasts

Celebrations may be in order for Abraxas Petroleum Corporation (NASDAQ:AXAS) shareholders, with the analysts delivering a significant upgrade to their statutory estimates for the company. The consensus statutory numbers for both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) increased, with their view clearly much more bullish on the company's business prospects.

Following the upgrade, the current consensus from Abraxas Petroleum's dual analysts is for revenues of US$63m in 2021 which - if met - would reflect a reasonable 7.0% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. The loss per share is anticipated to greatly reduce in the near future, narrowing 100% to US$0.065. However, before this estimates update, the consensus had been expecting revenues of US$55m and US$0.11 per share in losses. So there's been quite a change-up of views after the recent consensus updates, with the analysts making a sizeable increase to their revenue forecasts while also reducing the estimated loss as the business grows towards breakeven.

View our latest analysis for Abraxas Petroleum

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Abraxas Petroleum's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues next year expected to grow 7.0%, compared to a historical growth rate of 15% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 11% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while revenue growth is expected to slow down, the wider industry is also expected to grow faster than Abraxas Petroleum.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that analysts reduced their loss per share estimates for next year, reflecting increased optimism around Abraxas Petroleum's prospects. Fortunately, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and are forecasting revenues to grow slower than the wider market. More bullish expectations could be a signal for investors to take a closer look at Abraxas Petroleum.

Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. At least one analyst has provided forecasts out to 2025, which can be seen for free on our platform here.

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are upgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks that insiders are buying.

When trading Abraxas Petroleum or any other investment, use the platform considered by many to be the Professional's Gateway to the Worlds Market, Interactive Brokers. You get the lowest-cost* trading on stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds and funds worldwide from a single integrated account. Promoted

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
^*Interactive Brokers Rated Lowest Cost Broker by StockBrokers.com Annual Online Review 2020

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.